Johnny Mnemonic

January 14, 2011

Wikipedia | Johnny Mnemonic is a 1995 cyberpunk film, loosely based on the short story “Johnny Mnemonic” by William Gibson. The title character, a man with a cybernetic brain implant designed to store information, is played by Keanu Reeves. The film portrays Gibson’s dystopian view of the future with the world dominated by megacorporations and with strong East Asian influences. The film has garnered a cult following over the years for its dystopian and cyberpunk themes.

The film was directed by Robert Longo on location in Canada, with Toronto and Montreal filling in for the film’s Newark, New Jersey and Beijing settings. A number of local monuments, including Toronto’s Union Station and Montreal’s skyline and Jacques Cartier Bridge, feature prominently.

The film is notable for the presence of Takeshi Kitano, whose role in the Japanese version of the film was greatly expanded.

In the year 2021, Johnny is a data trafficker who has an implant that allows him to securely store data too sensitive for regular computer networks. His brain can carry nearly 80 gigabytes worth of data, or 160 gigabytes if he uses a doubler. Johnny uses this implant to act as a courier between contracting parties. On one delivery run, he accepts a package that not only exceeds the implant’s safety limits (and will thus kill him if the data isn’t removed in time), but also proves to contain information far more important and valuable than he had ever imagined. He has to remove the data and avoid being killed by assassins sent after him by the company who owns the data.